Eagles (15-3) vs. Patriots (15-3) at Minneapolis, MN

Thirteen of the league’s 32 teams have never done it. Four franchises have never even played in football’s biggest game over the past 51 seasons.

This Sunday, the New England Patriots will be playing in a record 10th Super Bowl as they take aim on their sixth title.

Of course, we don’t really think of the Patriots’ two appearances prior to the turn of this century (lost handily to both Chicago in 1985 season and Green Bay in 1996 season respectively) as that was before the greatest coach/quarterback tandem would take this league by storm. Together, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have re-written the record books to where you would need a gigabyte of storage to record them all.

Among the many accomplishments, this game marks the eighth time Brady/Belichick have qualified for this contest in Brady’s 16 years as the team’s starting quarterback. That equates to an absurd 50% of his seasons played (missed a year with injury) that he has ended up in the Super Bowl.

At 40 years and 185 days old when football’s grandest game kicks off, Brady will be the oldest quarterback to ever start in the Super Bowl. If ever a poster boy is needed for the adage that age is just a number, Tom Terrific should be it as he is favoured to win the league’s MVP for the 2017 regular season after leading his team to an AFC best 13-3 on the arm of a league-leading 4,577 yards passing to go along with 32 touchdown tosses, just eight interceptions and a QB rating of 102.8.

Brady’s offence was first in total yardage, second in passing yardage, second in points scored and 10th in rushing yards with a committee of non-descript running backs.

The Patriots did get off to a sluggish start defensively to start the year after allowing 128 points in the first four games of the season before making adjustments and allowing only 168 points in their final 12 games. Much to his credit and further testament to his prowess, Belichick’s roster is not littered with star players.

Clearly, Brady is elite. Rob Gronkowski is a top tight-end. Those two represent half of the mere four players that were named to this year’s Pro Bowl squad. The other two were special teams captain Matthew Slater and fullback James Develin, not exactly marquee names at premier positions.

And that’s where we have a problem.

Despite their rich recent history and having to take on the daunting Brady/Belichick duo, the Eagles own the superior roster.

We’ll call the receivers a wash. Gronkowski is a huge threat when healthy but after two recent concussions, who knows how he is doing and if he’ll even play. Zach Ertz has been equally important to his club and it is disconcerting that the Patriots have struggled containing tight-ends this year.

Actually, New England has had issues containing anyone this year as even with the improvement on points allowed, the team’s defensive numbers leave much to be desired. Perhaps its ‘bend but don’t break’ philosophy was effective in preventing points (18.5 per game, ranking 5th overall) but ranking 29th in total yards allowed (an alarming 394 yards per game), 30th in passing yards allowed and 20th against the rush has to be cause for concern.

Especially when you consider the strong edge that Philadelphia has on its offensive line, leading the way for the rugged combination of RB’s Jay Ajayi and LeGarrette Blount to pound yards and move the chains. It certainly gives QB Nick Foles confidence playing behind those guys, proven when shredding what was considered to be a top defending Vikings’ team (26 of 33 for 352 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs) in the NFC Conference finals.

Speaking of lines, Philly’s defensive unit lays over counterpart Patriots after molding into one of the most menacing in the league. A group of defensive ends that include Chris Long, Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry and impressive rookie Derek Barnett were responsible for 22 sacks this season. DL Fletcher Cox has been a stud all year with his abilities and veteran leadership.

Philadelphia’s high-ranking defence enters this contest in fine form after surrendering 10, 6, 10 and 7 points respectively leading up to this showdown. We’ve seen how dangerous defensive momentum has been in recent Super Bowls.

We also like what coach Doug Pederson brings to the table. Matching wits with Belichick is a difficult undertaking but Pederson gets it. In just his second year as head man in Philly, Pederson has done a great job of fumigating the Chip Kelly era as he keeps his guys focused, he doesn’t play to lose and he has some innovative strategies up his sleeve.

No one is suggesting that this will be a simple assignment for the Birds. The Patriots rarely lose. But they can be beat.

At the very least, a talented Eagles’ squad should be able to stay close. History surely suggests that.

Win or lose, the seven Brady/Belichick Super Bowls were decided by 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4 and 6 points respectively with the six-point win occurring in overtime last year.

Not to be ignored is each team’s 2017 pedigree.

Let’s face it, the AFC was utter trash this year. Not to discredit the Patriots but who did they have to contend with to earn this trip? The Steelers? Those imposters played a weak schedule, allowing Pittsburgh to cover up the many warts that were ultimately exposed in the playoffs.

All New England had to do to punch this ticket was get by mundane AFC South reps Tennessee and Jacksonville up in Foxborough and it took every bit of energy to dispose of the Jaguars. At the same time, the Eagles came through with an equal 13- 3 regular season in the talented and competitive NFC before a stellar playoff win over a hot Atlanta squad and a pulverizing victory against No. 2 seed Minnesota in a 38-7 rout.

Super Bowls are not won on reputation or past successes but rather on what each team brings to the table on this day.

That being the case, a well-balanced Philadelphia crew deserves our endorsement here and that they shall have.

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